CXL - UPDATE 12/9 - Coyotes settle bills after unpaid taxes come to light

[Fenway]

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman insists there are no issues with Coyotes, team isn't going anywhere

"It's clear that the city of Glendale has an edge or agenda in terms of how they're dealing with the Coyotes," Bettman said.
In response, Glendale city manager Kevin Phelps told The Athletic: "If Mr. Bettman and others want to believe that not filing 17 monthly tax returns was due to human error, then so be it.

"As a reminder, this was the same excuse the team used when they failed to pay some of their employees in a timely manner. Glendale does not have an agenda. We just want assurances that the team pay all of their obligations to the city in a timely manner. Our approach is based on our actual experiences with the team. Perhaps the league will be willing to guarantee that the city is fully paid by June 30th, 2022," he added.

In light of the uncertainty surrounding the Coyotes, some fans and media have wondered if it means Quebec City could be a viable destination for the Coyotes, or any, NHL franchise. While Bettman said there are no plans to relocate any team to Quebec City, the commissioner did announce that they'd be meeting with the Quebec government in January.

 

[Slashers98]

If Tempe goes through, none of this matters. No one on this board has control over that. Will it go through? I have no idea.

Ok, let's speculate it works. Where would the Coyotes play? They need a venue that meets the NHL standards and none of them exist right now.

 

[aqib]

Playoffs for either Coyotes or Diamondbacks. For this to work, you'd have to schedule all Coyotes regular season home games between mid-November to mid-March. And Chase Field is hosting a bowl game later this month. As well as any other events, like concerts, monster truck pulls, motocross, etc.

I know that NBA is different but if the Pistons could play at the Silverdome, the Raptors at the Skydome, and Seattle at the Kingdome from time to time, wile the football and baseball seasons were going on why would be it impossible to have the Coyotes at Chase Field during baseball season? they would just have to schedule home stands when the Dbacks are on the road.

 

[Devils 3silverones]

I can't remember all the details, but when the Thrashers were being talked about being relocated to Winnipeg, TNSE did a bunch of upgrades to the building as per the NHL requirements. This was one of the things that led people to speculate on Winnipeg getting a team because there was no way to hide the renovation work being done, and it was not a requirement to stay in the AHL. The MTS Centre was already close to spec so the majority of the upgrades had to do with TV angles / lighting / pressbox capacity etc... that kind of stuff. But the NHL does have a list of items that have to be met.

I recall the steps leading up.. Tsn 1290... Hmmm. All the upgrades.. Hmm.
All the media/video/etc..
I may have done the hvac in the phone booth... I'd have to go back like 12/13 years to recall the retro-fits to then, a new arena...
I was just curious as to the possible new NHL ready arenas in az..

Also, the NHL, or Wpg, didn't pay for said upgrades.
So who pays for any prospective arena upgrades in az, or any other arena? Hmmm again..

 

[Boris Zubov]

Chase Field has been mentioned but what happens if they make the playoffs?

My post about this was deleted yesterday due to very subtle language about relocation, but Chase doesn't seem like a real option. 2 long road trips to start & end the season, plus the playoff possibility.

 

[Mightygoose]

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman insists there are no issues with Coyotes, team isn't going anywhere


In light of the uncertainty surrounding the Coyotes, some fans and media have wondered if it means Quebec City could be a viable destination for the Coyotes, or any, NHL franchise. While Bettman said there are no plans to relocate any team to Quebec City, the commissioner did announce that they'd be meeting with the Quebec government in January.

Well gotta give Bettman props for the spin...he is a lawyer after all.

Yes there are no 'plans' to relocate the Coyotes to Quebec City....that would only be one 'plan'.

 

[Boris Zubov]

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman insists there are no issues with Coyotes, team isn't going anywhere

"It's clear that the city of Glendale has an edge or agenda in terms of how they're dealing with the Coyotes," Bettman said.
In response, Glendale city manager Kevin Phelps told The Athletic: "If Mr. Bettman and others want to believe that not filing 17 monthly tax returns was due to human error, then so be it.

"As a reminder, this was the same excuse the team used when they failed to pay some of their employees in a timely manner. Glendale does not have an agenda. We just want assurances that the team pay all of their obligations to the city in a timely manner. Our approach is based on our actual experiences with the team. Perhaps the league will be willing to guarantee that the city is fully paid by June 30th, 2022," he added.

In light of the uncertainty surrounding the Coyotes, some fans and media have wondered if it means Quebec City could be a viable destination for the Coyotes, or any, NHL franchise. While Bettman said there are no plans to relocate any team to Quebec City, the commissioner did announce that they'd be meeting with the Quebec government in January.

Now can we discuss relocation possibilities?

 

[JimAnchower]

I know that NBA is different but if the Pistons could play at the Silverdome, the Raptors at the Skydome, and Seattle at the Kingdome from time to time, wile the football and baseball seasons were going on why would be it impossible to have the Coyotes at Chase Field during baseball season? they would just have to schedule home stands when the Dbacks are on the road.

I would think setting up/taking down the rink and freezing the water would probably take a couple more days on either side of each teams home dates that could make it more of a challenge. At least the D-Backs play on synthetic turf, so there's no threat to kill the grass.

 

[MNNumbers]

Bettman blames Glendale, in spite of this not passing the smell test because the cause is taxes.

Obviously, he and Meruelo are going to paint this summer as: We got kicked out of our barn!! It's all Glendale's fault!!!!

That much is clear. But, we would not have expected differently.

He's good though. Admits they are meeting with the Quebec gov't in January. The fact he admitted that is cover, so that there is no spying Teterboro airport for when the plane leaves.

 

[Mightygoose]

Outside of an expansion process how often does Bettman say they're meeting with officials from an non NHL market to the national media like this?

When Glendale paid the 25 million 'insurance policy' to the league in 2010. True North was close to acquiring the team and I recall Bettman said in the state of the league address during that year's cup finals that they were in talks with them....with no plans to relocate a team or expand of course.

And look what happened a year later

 

[Boris Zubov]

Bettman blames Glendale, in spite of this not passing the smell test because the cause is taxes.

Obviously, he and Meruelo are going to paint this summer as: We got kicked out of our barn!! It's all Glendale's fault!!!!

That much is clear. But, we would not have expected differently.

He's good though. Admits they are meeting with the Quebec gov't in January. The fact he admitted that is cover, so that there is no spying Teterboro airport for when the plane leaves.

The plot certainly thickens.

 

[Mightygoose]

The plot certainly thickens.

Yup. Very open to say that they'll be meeting with Quebec officials next month yet we're so quick (along with the Coyotes) to throw cold water on the Houston story.

 

[Acesolid]

"If Mr. Bettman and others want to believe that not filing 17 monthly tax returns was due to human error, then so be it.

To quote the movie Chicago:

"And then he ran into my knife.... He ran into my knife ten times!"

 

[aqib]

I would think setting up/taking down the rink and freezing the water would probably take a couple more days on either side of each teams home dates that could make it more of a challenge. At least the D-Backs play on synthetic turf, so there's no threat to kill the grass.

I mean the technology so much better now they could probably freeze the rink in a day. It would obviously be a problem if they make the playoffs thats for sure.

 

[TheLegend]

Bettman on the Coyotes owing money: 'It's been taken care of'

More along the same as above but another quote from the commissiner

To quote

He added that when a franchise "that needs work" is taken over by new ownership, sometimes during the due diligence of the transition of running that team, "you uncover things." He said owner Alex Meruelo, whose ownership group bought the Coyotes in 2019, is "working through all of those."

I'm certain there's lots 'things' that were uncovered.

Get back to us in the spring Gary

I would presume these “other things” were possibly generated by the previous ownership group.

At a company I used to work for we had an assistant manager who was embezzling money and made it look like other employees were ripping the company off. By the time they realized what was going on it had cost two innocent employees their jobs. A year after they had this person arrested they were still finding evidence of things this person had done.

 

[TheLegend]

Of course Glendale has an agenda...

They want to get paid in a timely manner by someone who continually owes them money, and when the team finally does stop playing in Glendale, the city isn't left fighting in court for the next decade trying to get their money.

"Glendale has an agenda" - says the man who blackmailed the CoG out of $50,000,000

The “agenda” being referred to is not allowing a third arena to be built in Tempe. Because it would severely hinder their ability to replace 41 nights of hockey with other events. Especially when they already have a hard time competing with the Suns’ arena downtown.

Which is what I’ve been saying all along.

 

[Roadrage]

Coyotes tax lein. Looks to be paid monthly.

So it looks like they are current up until the end of September if they paid $1.3 million. What about the October and November taxes or can Coyotes pay those at a later date? My bigger question is if anyone has any idea if the team is also current with their vendors? I'm guessing "human error" is a good possibility in not paying them either. Not all their vendors are big corporations that can overlook $5K or $10K or perhaps more for any length of time.

 

[Devils 3silverones]

The “agenda” being referred to is not allowing a third arena to be built in Tempe. Because it would severely hinder their ability to replace 41 nights of hockey with other events. Especially when they already have a hard time competing with the Suns’ arena downtown.

Which is what I’ve been saying all along.

So,
Glendale, expected AM to not pay bills. Prior to AM, thinking of Tempe? In early 2021?..
Or, payimg his bills for 17 months?
If AM knew he was in arrears, owning a professional sports team mind you, .. Wouldn't iceaz clear this up?

 

[StreetHawk]

If the Tempe deal falls through can does Glendale truly want to continue this relationship with the coyotes? Can’t always be a struggle to collect on your AR.

 

[TheLegend]

So,
Glendale, expected AM to not pay bills. Prior to AM, thinking of Tempe? In early 2021?..
Or, payimg his bills for 17 months?
If AM knew he was in arrears, owning a professional sports team mind you, .. Wouldn't iceaz clear this up?

There’s a difference between having an agenda and someone supplying you with an entire ammo dump to use in fulfilling that agenda.

I’m not excusing what Meruelo (née Coyotes) have done. Bettman injected the narrative that Glendale has an agenda and I’m defining what that agenda is.

The back taxes issue (and late arena debt payments) is inexcusable. But you’d also be surprised how often that goes on in the world.

 

[TheLegend]

If the Tempe deal falls through can does Glendale truly want to continue this relationship with the coyotes? Can’t always be a struggle to collect on your AR.

Nope. The Coyotes wouldn’t either because they’re strangled by the lack of revenue streams available to them.

 

[Fenway]

Ok, let's speculate it works. Where would the Coyotes play? They need a venue that meets the NHL standards and none of them exist right now.

AVMC is obviously a possible venue but it would cost a lot of money to get it to the bare minimum standards required for the NHL. At best it is lipstick on a pig.

Chase Field could certainly be used during the regular season and attract big crowds for visiting teams that travel well which would provide extra revenue to help upgrade the old arena.

The new ASU Arena will open in 2022 but it is too small (5,500 seats) to even consider.

The Suns and the City of Glendale don't want a third arena in the market so you can rule them out.

On top of this we have no timeline on when the Tempe project gets greenlighted.

 

[Devils 3silverones]

There’s a difference between having an agenda and someone supplying you with an entire ammo dump to use in fulfilling that agenda.

I’m not excusing what Meruelo (née Coyotes) have done. Bettman injected the narrative that Glendale has an agenda and I’m defining what that agenda is.

The back taxes issue (and late arena debt payments) is inexcusable. But you’d also be surprised how often that goes on in the world.

I will take the response.
It is a poor choice of words.

Informing people (fans), is not an agenda. Either side of the spectrum.
Getting caught in the act, is not an agenda.

It most certainly is not a "dump" to react to.

The "dump" is accross not-so-much broad shoulders.
And, no. I wouldn't be surprised by how much this goes on.
There is no spin on this.

And, to add.. A journalist, good or bad, is not the person who should be finding out the details. The people in charge of the issue should be.

The prior did. Says alot.

 

[JimAnchower]

Ok, let's speculate it works. Where would the Coyotes play? They need a venue that meets the NHL standards and none of them exist right now.

Due to renovations to the Footprint Center in 2020, the WNBA's Mercury were due to play at the AVMC during the 2020 season. Obviously, they never did. They originally announced this on July 24, 2019 for a season that was due to begin May 15, 2020. So 10 months before, and right now we're a little less than 10 months from the start of 2022-23.

The Mercury were going to make upgrades to the scoreboard, lighting, sound system, and some seats. Who knows how much of that they completed. If all that was completed, and everything shutdown two months before the season was supposed to start so probably not, the Coyotes would still need to add and install an ice machine and probably make other upgrades (press box, technology/WiFi, locker rooms, camera angles, tv booths, benches) just bring it up to a minimum NHL standard. And they'd also want to upgrade the fan experience, whether that's seats, concourses, advertising, etc. That's a lot to do.

 

[Fenway]

Yup. Very open to say that they'll be meeting with Quebec officials next month yet we're so quick (along with the Coyotes) to throw cold water on the Houston story.

Rencontre avec Québec en janvier: Gary Bettman se dit heureux et en mode écoute

Translated from French

Bettman said he was far from surprised that the case of the hypothetical return of the Nordics continually bounces in the news in Quebec.
“I know that the fans in Quebec are passionate, there is no doubt. If we look back in time, the Nordiques left because there was no hope of a new arena and because no one wanted to own a team in Quebec.

“Maybe things have changed. I'm going to listen and we'll see what that means in the overall picture. ”

Well of course things have changed - it is called the Centre Videotron.

Bettman announced that meeting for a reason - we just don't know why....................................................yet